Putrajaya, Malaysia – WWF reaffirmed its commitment as a partner to the Coral Triangle Initiative on Coral Reefs, Fisheries and Food Security (CTI-CFF) during the 4th CTI-CFF Ministerial Meeting in the presence of the honorable ministers and representatives of the six Coral Triangle countries, together with other development partners and stakeholders in the region.

The statement was given by WWF-Malaysia’s Conservation Director, Dr. Sundari Ramakrishna, on behalf of the WWF Coral Triangle Program and WWF’s national office in Malaysia.

WWF highlighted its regional contributions in the previous years working with the CTI-CFF through its participation in the Rio+20 side event, the first Coral Triangle Day celebrations, the annual Coral Triangle Regional Business Forums and bi-annual Fishers Forum, its establishment of a Climate Change Adaptation Marketplace, Sustainable Financing studies in the Sulu Sulawesi Marine Ecoregion, and its advocacy for increased Marine Protected Areas with effective management.

WWF also reaffirmed its commitment to continue working at the national level, with Coral Triangle governments in implementing activities supporting National Plans of Actions.

Minister, Datuk Seri Panglima Dr. Maximus JohnityOngkili, Malaysia’s Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI)and current Chair of the CTI-CFF Council of Ministers, emphasized the need for Coral Triangle countries to accelerate their domestic processes in getting the mandate to sign and ratify the Agreement for the Establishment of a Permanent CTI-CFF Regional Secretariat—a sentiment loudly echoed by the development partners, including WWF. Minister Ongkili also announced that Malaysia, along with Solomon Islands and Timor Leste, are now ready to join Indonesia as signatories to this agreement.

The Ministerial Meeting was also an opportunity to recognize some of the positive results of the CTI-CFF in recent years, including the progress made in carrying out activities outlined in both Regional and National Plans of Action and the several Regional Exchange Programs that have been conducted so far to promote capacity-building.

The Ministerial Meeting succeeded the 8th Senior Officials Meetings held the week before, where more than a dozen recommendations were agreed upon and brought forth for the Council of Ministers to officially endorse as part of the Putrajaya Joint Ministerial Statement, which included among others: approving anoperations plan and communications plan; recognizingthe development of a financial architecture and feasibility study; approvingthe criteria and process for the inclusion of potential development partners and encouraging expanded collaboration;taskingthe Council of Senior Officials to implement the transitional plan towardsthe establishment of the CTI-CFF permanent Regional Secretariat; approving a roadmap and calendar of activities for 2013; and declaring 9 June as the Coral Triangle Day.

The Government of Malaysia, through the Science, Technology and Innovation Ministry (MOSTI), hosted both Senior Officials and Ministerial Meetings from 22-26 November 2011 in Kuala Lumpur.